The price of a 30-second Super Bowl ad could soar to $6 million in 2016

The Super Bowl just got that much bigger...for advertisers.
Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

The price of the average 30-second Super Bowl ad slot in 2016 could soar up to 33% on this year's big game to $6 million, according to next year's official broadcaster.

Les Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, which will air Super Bowl 50, is bullish about his ambitions for next year's big game. The last time CBS aired the Super Bowl, three years ago, the average 30-second spot cost $3.8 million.

"It certainly won't hurt our sales for next year, $5 million to $6 million for a 30-second spot sounds pretty good to me," Moonves said.

When asked how CBS is warding off the threat of digital video competitors like Facebook when it comes to selling in TV to advertising agencies, Moonves responded: "Look, NBC got $4.5 million for a 30-second spot in the Super Bowl. We're going to get north of $5 million. Those dollars aren't going to digital. They realize they want to get to 120 million people at once and that's why broadcast will always be solid."

Unlike other TV broadcasters and cable networks reporting earnings this month, CBS was upbeat in tone around the state of the national TV advertising market.

Moonves said: "Our advertising picture is helped by a broadcast marketplace that has been steadily improving week after week since the end of the first quarter. Given that we're the number one network and that broadcast content has been strong overall, we're not seeing the same headwinds as base the cable."

CBS reported a 3.1% lift in total revenue year on year to $3.68 billion in the three months to December 31, while total OIBDA dropped 1.3% to $778 million. For the full year, revenues fell 1.4% to $13.81 billion. Total OIBDA for the full year decreased 4.2% to $3.18 billion.

Advertising revenue rose 4.1% in the quarter to $2.14 billion, but fell 4.3% over the full year to $7.53 billion.